Artemis II rocket to roll back to pad. The U.S. space agency said engineers are aiming for 8 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 19, to begin rolling the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Crawler-Transporter 2 will carry the 11-million-pound stack, including the mobile launcher, at about 1 mph along a four-mile route from Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad. The journey may take up to 12 hours.
Astronauts enter quarantine again …Meanwhile, the Artemis II crew entered quarantine in Houston at 5 p.m. CDT on Wednesday to ensure they remain healthy before launch. NASA astronauts Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will limit their exposure with others for the next week in Houston before flying to Kennedy about five days before launch. Both activities are important milestones on the way to the launch on Wednesday, April 1.
Booster 19 completes initial test campaign. The Super Heavy first stage, which will be used for the 12th Starship flight test, Booster 19, has completed initial test operations at the newly commissioned Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas, NASASpaceflight.com reports. Resulting in a short static firing of the rocket, the series of tests was the first for the upgraded Raptor 3 outside of Pad 2, the new Block 3/V3 Super Heavy booster and single engine testing.
New and improved (?) rocket and pad …As the inaugural vehicle to undergo operations at this pad, Booster 19’s campaign served as both booster qualification testing and a commissioning milestone for the expanded launch infrastructure. Pad 2 includes significant upgrades compared to Pad 1, notably dual booster quick disconnects: one dedicated to liquid methane and the other to liquid oxygen. This separation enables independent tank pressurization and more efficient loading, reducing the risks associated with mixed propellants. After a stable firing, SpaceX said the rocket performed well. The flight is not likely to occur before the second half of April 12.
next three launches
20 March: electron | Eight days a week Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand 16:10 UTC
20 March:Falcon 9 | Starlink 17-15 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California 21:48 UTC
22 March: Soyuz 2.1A | Pragati MS-33 | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan 11:59 UTC
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